When Amenhotep IV changed his name to Akhenaten, his capital to Akhetaten, and the pantheon to the Aten, he uprooted not only the entire political and theological establishment, but also the outlook of a generation. There were nine "King's Daughters of His Flesh," six of whom were the issue of the King's Chief Wife, Nefernefruaten-Nefertiti. Two of the princesses would become queens in their own right, one wedding the boy who was to become Egypt's most famous pharaoh. Together, these children embodied the future of the Aten cult,the glorious XVIII Dynasty, and the future of Kemet, herself. Though the Sun Disc and its creator might wane in favour, shining always and forever would be the the Children of the Sun.

Daughter of the Heretic King, wife to Egypt's most famous pharaoh, the last royal blood of Kemet's most blessed line of rulers: Ankhesenamun was possessing of not only these, but also a beauty and a legacy that history was not to forget. In time, she was lifted upward into the awareness of the ages, ascended into memory, and held dear by the love which finds her story saved and told again.

What Akhenaten lacked in the solitary nature of his theology, he more than made up for with his proliferation of daughters. Cavorting across monuments, sprawling over laps, and goading chariot horses whilst their parents steal a kiss; the princesses of Amarna have a natural charm to which even history has not proved immune. Monument by monument, we watch them blossom into lotuses whose tales remain imbedded in the foundations of buildings dismantled and defaced, carried on the scent of petals long since faded and blown away.

Though many were the royal ladies of the late XVIIIth Dynasty, the time was not completely devoid of apearances put in by the rare and precious princes. More than a few died young, some were so priviliged as to dream of the honor of Crown Prince, and those who persisted despite the times inherited the Two Lands whose sons they truly were.

For all their glory, the Children of the Sun are subject to a light which fades as the finalé of each of their stories is sought. Meketaten is the only child for whom we have a certain cause of death, just as Tutankhamun is the only one for whom we have a body. Others - Kiya's daughter, Meritaten- and Ankhesenapaaten-Tasherit - are simple whispers in the chorus of history while still others - Ankhes' and Tutankhamun's still-born daughters - were denied the breath that would have permitted their whisper.

I would like to dedicate this site - indeed, the whole of my life - to Standing in Motion, whose wish it was that his site Ankhesenamun: Queen of Destiny be left in my care. I have left his pages intact, and shan't change a thing; true beauty cannot be improved upon.

Sheritra is a nickname given me by my dearest love, and is ancient Egyptian for "little sun". My given name also has meaning, as Arden is Latin for "passionate". Sheritra and Arden: I have dedicated myself to doing both names justice.

This is an online collection of a few of my beloved family of paintings and sketches.